Pakistan's Ambassador to the US Rizwan Saeed Sheikh has emphasized the significance of according primacy to diplomacy in resolving global issues, including the longstanding Kashmir dispute.

Speaking at a seminar organized by Pakistan's Embassy in Washington D.C. in connection with Kashmir Solidarity Day, he said there is a need to create a situation in which India and Pakistan can engage in a meaningful and consequential dialogue.

The Ambassador said durable settlement of the Kashmir issue and a hope for lasting peace can be best accomplished through diplomacy.

He urged the international community to refocus its attention and play a proactive role in resolving the longstanding issues of Kashmir and Palestine.

Rizwan Saeed Sheikh said the situation in Palestine and Kashmir affords us this opportunity to accord them a similar status. And if they are both taken together owing to a common genesis, each will reinforce or strengthen the other issue.

He said the steps taken by Indian government on and after August 5, 2019, are not legally tenable.

In this context, the Ambassador highlighted relevance of UN Resolution 122, adopted on January 24, 1957, that reaffirmed the international nature of the Kashmir dispute and unambiguously pronounced that any unilateral action by either of the two parties to the dispute would not be a substitute to the prescribed solution of a UN-supervised plebiscite.

On the occasion, Former Ambassador Tauqir Hussain stressed that Kashmiris needed to make unilateral actions of 2019 untenable for India so that it is compelled to revert to negotiating table. He emphasized that India and Pakistan would have to find a way to settle the dispute through mutual understanding.

Former Norwegian MP Lars Rise highlighted that India was committing war crimes in occupied territory. He stressed that violations of human rights should be documented and this should be made part of foreign policy advocacy in the major world capitals.